The Gazette 1974

as managers, administrators and legal advisers. Their ta sk is different from that of the Community lawyer and their skills needs little adaptation. Large corpora- hons, already straddling several countries, can look alter themselves though they could certainly do with People versed with expertise in the European com- mercial law. This expertise consists of the knowledge of me economic directions of the Community and their mipact on the member States, as well as the economic a n d fiscal laws of the member States. A fair proportion of legal business will be conducted °n home ground and in this respect no difficulty should a !} se j given a knowledge of the Community law and its ®V ect in this country. A Community element may well msturb the placid existence of a solicitor practising in a rural area where his clients feel the pinch of the Community Agricultural Regulations, or where migrant ^prkers seek enlightenment in a matte of our indus- n al relations law or social welfare. Advising clients on Community Law abroad Far more challenging is the prospect of advising clients on Community matters abroad, because in addi- "°n to strictly Community law the domestic law of the Member States may be involved. Specialisation will be n ^eded and firms of solicitors venturing into these areas jjdl establish close relations with foreign practitioners. At the initial stage of such cases somebody will have 10 diagnose the problem and carry on the liaison work. Article 55 of the EEC Treaty gives the "right of establishment" on the basis of free movement within fae Community. So far this freedom has not resulted A 1 a migration of lawyers within the six original mem- e r s of the Community and the legal profession will Probably remain home bound. However, foreign lawyers m a y avail themselves of this opportunity if our own Profession is unable to cope. By the same token our 'awyers are entitled to set up in practice abroad on an basis, their success depending upon their pro- ficiency in foreign and Community law, not to mention guistic aptitude. P rr actice in Community Courts Practice before the Community Court presents its °Wn problems. The Court was set up largely upon the Pattern of the French Conseil d'Etat. Its jurisdiction includes supervision of the execution of the Treaties, Adjudication of disputes between member States and ^Uveen member States and the Community institutions, a n d the interpretation of the Treaties and Community ^gislation. Its procedure is French with some German e,e ments imported recently. In the main the proceedings conducted in writing—hence the art of "written a dvocacy". As it is unlikely that the existing practice ^ul be changed to accommodate British lawyers, new Kills will have to be learned and unusual difficulties 0v ercome. unless we prefer to leave it to others. It can be seen that in these three areas knowledge t Community law and of the laws of the member ta tes is only a modest beginning. Any self-respecting ea cher must take these matters into consideration when ^ b a r k i ng on his new venture, and the head of the . e Partment may well ponder the nature and dimen- Sl °ns of the task as well as the potential of the lecturer. So far it has been assumed that there is a consensus j S to the meaning and scope of the Community law. n fact this is not so and indeed it would be un- profitable to attempt a comprehensive definition. In- e ad it seems more appropriate to consider the dimen- lQ ns of Community law in the light of the three basic

areas of its application, i.e. in the field of the Com- munity bureaucracy (civil service), the commercial world and professional legal practice. Each of these is a kind of specialisation but all have a common core and this common core may be regarded as an introduc- tion to the Community law. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources Another way of looking at the dimensions of Com- munity law is through the eyes of its sources. The primary sources are the Treaties and Conventions which set up the institutions and which lay down the obligations of the member States. The secondary sources consist of the law-making acts of the Com- munity institutions which result in a body of law gene- rated by the Community itself in its quasi-autonomous capacity. These include the regulations, directives and decisions made by the Council or the Commission in the execution of their duties and powers under the Treaty, as well as the judgments o fthe Community Court which, though not binding in the sense of our doctrine of precedent, have a persuasive authority and are respected as an authoritative exposition of the law. The third source is the sovereign legislative power of the member States which, in accordance with the Treaty, are bound to effect approximation and har- monisation of their domestic law. Thus Community law defies the accepted classifica- tions of law; it is both international and municipal, public and private, enacted and formulated in pre- cedents. It is a sui generis law and must be treated as such. Therefore it has to be studied in its inter- national setting with due attention to its impact upon the laws of the member States and the quasi-autono- mous law-making capacity of the Community Institu- tions. Although by virtue of the European Communi- ties Act 1972, Community law has become at a stroke, as it were, incarnated into our system, it remains in many respects a distinct legal order. How do we put all these things into a workable syllabus? There are, I suppose, various ways and, within the bounds of academic freedom tempered by the respect for the subject and one's students, one would concentrate on the core, and ration details according to one's interests and inclinations. I suggest that it can be done as follows. The European Communities and Community Law We begin with the concept of the European Com- munities and Community law. Without overdoing the historical and political aspects, the student must be brought face-to-face with this unique phenomenon, its philosophy, its purpose, its ideology and its reality. We proceed straightaway to the legal status of the European Community as a blueprint of federal organisation, but, more importantly, as a legal person both in interna- tional law and the domestic laws of the member States Having defined the Community we turn to its legal order. We analyse the concept and the scope of Community law, its sources, its binding power, im- plementation and enforcement. At this stage the student will have a fair idea of what is involved and this will enable him to study in depth the constitution of the European Community. This is a very essential part of the course as he must know how the Community is governed and how the sovereign member States fit into the picture. He will then appre- ciate the special relationship between the Community and its members, between the Community law and the laws of the member States. The student will learn that 63